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In what’s been a miserable two seasons for the Cincinnati Bengals, the team finally delivered their fans something to smile about Monday as they knocked off the AFC leading Pittsburgh Steelers 27-17 in a Monday Night stunner.
The Bengals entered play 3-10-1 and starting third-string quarterback Ryan Finley with Joe Burrow out for the season and Brandon Allen also injured.
Playing an 11-2 Steelers team hoping to rebound from back-to-back
losses, the Bengals were given almost no chance at victory as they entered play 14.5-point underdogs.
According to ESPN’s Jamison Hensley, the Bengals’ stunning victory was the second-largest upset in the long history of Monday Night Football, which dates back to 1970.
The Bengals’ win over Steelers was 2nd-largest upset in MNF history.
— Jamison Hensley (@jamisonhensley) December 22, 2020
The largest? A 17-point underdog, the Baltimore Colts beat the Patriots, 34-27, in 1978.
Joe Washington became first NFL player to throw a TD, catch a TD and return one (game-winning 90-yard kickoff return).
Cincinnati’s win was the biggest Monday Night upset in 42-years according to Hensley, when the then Baltimore Colts defeated the New England Patriots 34-27 in the since-demolished Foxboro Stadium in 1978
The Colts, who entered play 0-2, upset a 1-1- Patriots team that were 17-point favorites on the road. New England went onto finish the 1978 season 11-5 and as AFC East champions while Baltimore finished 5-11, missing the playoffs.
While the Bengals, like the 1978 Colts, will not reach the postseason and the Steelers, like the 1978 Patriots, will be, this win is a big one for Cincinnati fans as they get an early Christmas gift of beating their arch-rivals and holding onto the third pick in the upcoming NFL Draft.